Marketing Blog

How to Turn Your Website into a Lead Generation Magnet

Running a successful business involves juggling a variety of tasks, including:

Converting prospects into paying customers.

Keeping those customers happy with outstanding service.

Growing profits through repeat business and upsells.

However, none of the above matters if you don't have new leads coming in on a regular basis. But how do you attract those prospects – especially in a world where visitors have short attention spans and access to a sea of competing offers?

Below are 5 powerful steps for transforming your website into a lead generating magnet.

1. Publish Valuable Content

The most important step involves anticipating and answering the types of questions prospects might have. By helping users solve problems, you emerge as a trusted resource. This leads to higher engagement and more leads.

However, this strategy only works if you provide valuable content – preferably for free. Common “lead bait” giveaways include e-books, webinars, video tutorials, and stellar articles.

2. SEO: Getting Discovered

Every month, there are over 100 billion online searches – on just Google alone. But only 8.5% of users make it to the 2nd page of results. In other words, if you’re not on Page 1, your business doesn’t exist.

Enter search engine optimization (SEO) – or the art of ranking your site at the top of the results. This process requires that you:

Identify the right keywords and their semantic equivalents.

Weave those keywords throughout your content, including within the body and paragraph headings.

Optimize all of the backend information for each piece of content, including metadata and alt tags.

However, you never want to overstuff your content with keywords. The flow should be natural, with the primary focus on the user experience – not search engine algorithms.

3. Redirect to Landing Pages

Many sites make the mistake of directing all incoming traffic to the homepage. But remember that online attention spans are short, and you only have a few seconds to connect with every visitor.

This is why a better approach is to set up individual landing pages segmented by offer and target audience. This strategy allows you to show users what they need to see as quickly as possible. If you're running a promotion for Widget X, for example, send relevant traffic to your dedicated Widget X landing page.

Bonus Tip: On the landing page, be sure to remove navigation options and any other distractions as much as possible. This ensures that users can focus 100% of their attention on completing the specific call-to-action (CTA) for that page.

4. Highlighting the CTA

Another common mistake is when businesses make their CTA buttons “blend in” with the rest of their sites (usually for aesthetic purposes). But the most successful calls-to-action are those that contrast with everything else, making them impossible to ignore.

Equally important, that page’s CTA should never have to compete with other calls-to-action. There should be one – and only one – next step that a user can take, be it:

Signing up for a newsletter.

Completing a purchase.

Requesting a free e-book.

Booking an appointment.

5. Analyze and Test the Data

These metrics are valuable in their own right since they provide a snapshot of your site's overall performance. But those insights become even more powerful if you A/B test different components of your sales funnel.

For example, which works better at converting visitors into leads:

“Sign up now” or “Register today”?

A “red” CTA button or a “blue” one?

A sidebar sign-up form or a pop-up?

Do NOT let intuition be your guide. Instead, let the data tell you what does and doesn't work. And as you continue to A/B test, you can eliminate the losers and keep refining the top performers.

Taking It All In

The above is a lot to digest. And making the different components work together can be challenging – especially if you’re already running a full-time business.

But don’t underestimate their importance. Those who adopt these strategies are the ones who succeed. Those who don’t, ultimately fail.

Fortunately, you don't have to navigate the lead gen space entirely on your own. At Friday Marketing, we specialize in helping firms optimize their sales funnels so they receive a steady stream of incoming leads like clockwork.